And matthew laflin



HOIT 6L LAFLIN.

Harvester. I No. 92,723. Paented- July 20, 1869.

lnitrfl Stabat @anni @time L. B. HOIT, OF CEDAR FALLS, IOVA, AND fMATTHEV LAFLIN, OF CHICAGO, 'ILLI- NOIS, SAID HOIT HAVING ASSIGNED HIS RIGHT TO SAID LAFLIN.

Letters Patent No. 92,7 23, dated Inh/20, 1869.

IMPROVEMENT 1N HARvEsantas.

ThevSchedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part 0f the S2111?- To all fit-hom it may concern:

'Be it known thatwe, L. B. Horr, of Cedar Falls, in the county of Black Hawk, and State of Iowa, and MATTHEW LAFLIN, of the city of Chicago, in the coluity of Cook, and State ot' Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Mowing and Reaping- Machines, and We do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, making part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 represents the'plan,

Figure 2, the side ele\ ation, and

Figure 3, the rear elevation of the machine.

Figure 4 is an enlarged plan of the oscillating shoe;

Figure 5, a sectional viewof the connection between the linger-bar and the shoe; and

Figure 6 is a side eleva-tien ofthe swivel-ring ofthe parallel-motion device. l

Similar letters of reference, marked on the several of` the above gures, denote similar or corresponding parts of the machine.

Our present invention consist-sof several improvements in the invention, entitled Improvement in Reaping and llIowing-Machines, for which Letters Patent of the United States'have been granted to L. B. Horr, bearing date of January 23, 1866, and numbered 52,167 and It consists in an oscillating shoe attached securely to the machine, serving as a point of support, and a point oi` attachment to the iinger-bar said shoe being so constructed and arranged as to be able to oscillate while passing over the ground, and thus to easily conform to and overcome the inequalities of the ground, independently of the finger-bar; as also permitting the finger-bar to conform to the inequalities of the ground independently of the motion of the said shoe.

The improvement consists also in a connecting rod, attached to the end ofthe pitman-lever by swivel-ring and hooked on to the sickle-bar, for the purpose of producing straight parallel mot-ion, and communicating the same'to vthe sickle-bar, while the end of the said pitman-lever is working on a curve.

It consists also inthe inode of attaching the ringerbar to, and detaching the same from the'said oscillating shoe, by means of a cylindrical pin secured to and between the two portions of the shoe, and the hook or clutch into which the end of the finger-bar is formed; said hook being passed under and partially around the said cylindrical pin, the two thus forming a lock, that iirmly secures the bar to the shoe, while the machine is working, andv facilitates the detachment. of the bar from the machine,- while the last is not in operation.

To enable others skilled in the art to which our invention appertains, to make and use said invention,

we will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

The eccentric-wheel A, called in HOITS original patent, a earn-wheel c, with its roller and pitmanlever, F, is placed, in the present machine, on the side opposite to that on which the sickle-bar is attached,

for the purpose of obviating the side draught of the machinewhen workin g. v

Frame B, supporting the eccentric-wheel A, is made shorter, having its rear end firmly secured to the frame ofthe machine by stanchion orstirrup, b,

G is the oscillating shoe, made of cast-iron, and is 'roundedbehind, .for the purpose of easily sliding over the ground when the machineis backed, and is pro- 'vided with a slot, G, in front.

A curved bar, D, passes through said slot, G, and has its lower end pivoted to the loops al of the shoe, while its upper end, provided with a ring, is put over the end of the axle of the machine.

Bar D, while it drags the shoe, plays in the slot- G, permitting the shoe, and the guards of thengerbar secured to it, to oscillate up and down, and thus to conform to and overcome the inequalities of the ground. y

Pin g regulates the play of the bar D in the slot G, thus regulating the height of the guards to cut grass higher or lower.

`Braces E E pinned to the frame B, and to the shoe C, keep said shoe in its proper place, and oii the wheel ofthe carriage.

The connection of the linger-bar with the shoe is elected in an entirely novel way. Two partitions, H H, ofthe shoe C, form-a chamber in which the end of the finger-bar snugly-rests, and which hold it fast when the bar strikes againstsome obstruction during thework of the machine.

A cylindrical pin, I., is secured between and -to the partitions H H, and the plate J secured to the end of the iingerbar is turned `up in a shape of a hook or' clutch, which hook, i, by passing under and partially around the cylinder I, forms a perfect lock. This arrangement i'orming a secure connection between the shoe and the nger-bar, permits, at the same time, a free raising or lowering ofthe outer end of the bar -to pass it' over obstructions, as also affords an easy means of= attaching `the linger-bar to or detaching it from the machine, and when so detached, the bar is placed oir the cross-piece'oil the frame of the machine, where proper stanchions or hooks are placed to receive it.

The device' for raising and lowering the outer end of the finger-bar, consists of an angular lever, O, having its fulcrum on the cylindrical pin I, of the shoe C, the end of its horizontal arm P being secured to the iingexsbar, and its vertical arm P connected with foottreadle lever S by means of chain Q passing under and -around pulley R, secured to the frame of the machine,

' a recess, K, on the outside, for the purpose of placing the first guard of the linger-bar in said recess, and on the line with that side of the shoe; the object of this being to allow' the knives between the first two guards to cut grass independently of the shoe, when the iin gerbar is elevated at any angle, and to compel grass to fall between the said guards, thus obviating the choking of the machine.

To move the sickle-bar, a parallel-motion device is contrived. As the end of the pitman-lever F moves on a circular curve, the connecting-rod L is provided with a fork, L', screwed on its upper end, whichfork contains a swivel-ring, M, pinned between and to the prongs of said fork, and is set over the end of the pitman-lever F. The lower end of the rod Lis formed into a hook, l, which is hooked into the headN of the Vsickle-bar. v The swivel-ring M, permitting rod L to play freely and to work i'n straight parallel lines, although the end of the pitman F works 0n a curve, prevents the stra-in of the rod L on the sickle-bar.

The screwing of rod L into fork Lpermitsgthe rod L to be extended or shortened according to the distance at which thesickle-bar is placed.

Having thus fully described our improvement,

What'we claim as our invention, and desire to secure by'Let-ters Patent, is

1. The oscillating shoe C, constructed with partitions H H, and recess K, and provided with the curved rods D, and braces E-E, substantially in the4 manner and for the purpose set forth.

2. The connecting lock-joint formed by the cylindrical pin I, and hooked end of linger-bar J, constructed to operate in the manner and forthe purpose set forth.

3. Giving a reciprocating motion to the sickle while in different positions, .by means ofthe combination of the cam or Veccentric-Wheel A, pvoted lever F, rod L, jointed tolever' F, `in the manner described, and conrnected tothe sickle-bar by the head N,snbstantially in the mannerdescribed.

L. B. HOIT. MATTHEW LAFLIN. Witnessesfor L. B. Hor'r:

WM. H. SEssIoNs, F. A. Ho'rcHKlss.V fitnesses for M. LAFLIN: J'. B. TURCHIN, N. K. KROEBER. 

